Chester Alwyn Barr, Jr. (born January 18, 1938) is an American historian who specializes in African American studies, the American South, the American Civil War, and Reconstruction. He is a professor emeritus and former chairman of the history department at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.Barr was the only child of Chester A. Barr, Sr. (1885-1973), a native of Austin, and the former Wilma Matlock (1905-1987). Barr received his Bachelor of Arts (1959), Master of Arts (1961), and Ph.D.